We incorporate 6 or 8 new tunes each gig, so our set set list is ever evolving, so the same audiences at repeat venues get something more than a repetition of the last show.
Not practicing new material is something we cannot afford, and we value our audience (and fans, we do have one or two that slavishly come to every gig) too much to merely give them simple mediocrity when it is within our power to give them excellence instead. All it takes is will and effort.
Even when theres a good stretch between bookings we practice together at least twice a month, because if you don't you never regain that lost ground. The people that come up with excuses always seem to have time to watch Eastenders or Line of Duty (or farmyard porn if thats their thing, whatever), but then come up with the lamest reasons for not haing a spare 2 or 3 hours with the team twice a month.
Merely adequate may be ok for your outfit, all power to you. Nevertheless, we feel our audience deserve the very best we can give them, and there is no substitute, nowt, nothing, nada, for pratice when it comes to delivering excellence.